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p. Omitting the Mother and Preoedipal Period in Freud^s Theory Freutfs Preoedipal Trauma Psychoanalysis aros e fro m Freud' s self-analysi s durin g th e tim e h e wa s mourning th e deat h o f hi s father . Jaco b die d i n Octobe r 1896 , an d Freud starte d analyzin g himsel f i n Jul y 1897 , nin e month s later , afte r buying a tombston e fo r hi s father' s grav e (Jone s 1953) . Th e theor y sprung fro m th e insight s o f this self-analysis , whic h deal t primaril y wit h Freud's oedipa l relationshi p t o hi s father . Freu d di d no t analyz e hi s preoedipal relationshi p t o hi s mother unti l th e en d o f his life , an d eve n then i t was incomplete . Sinc e Freud' s traumati c earl y relationship t o hi s nanny an d mother remaine d repressed , he did not include the preoedipa l period int o th e bod y o f psychoanalysis . Th e effec t wa s tha t Freud' s theory focuse d o n a mal e child' s relatio n t o th e fathe r an d no t th e mother. Curren t psychoanalysi s ha s reverse d Freud' s theory . No w th e preoedipal perio d i s considered mor e significant tha n th e oedipal period , and th e child' s relationshi p t o th e mothe r i s mor e importan t tha n t o the father . Freud considere d hi s major discover y in psychoanalysis t o b e infantile sexuality, which started at about four years of age. He found that sexuality was not only manifested i n adult life but existed during childhood as well. Freud noted that all small children had sexual feelings directed at the parent of the opposite sex during the oedipal period. The main threat to the little boy in the oedipal period was physical castration by the father. With little 88 Omitting the Mother and Preoedipal Period in Freud's Theory 8 9 girls, the same theme of castration and resultant penis envy was paramount in Freud's theoretical formulations. I t was as if girls were little boys wh o already ha d suffere d castration . Freu d di d no t giv e recognitio n t o th e uniqueness o f femininity, tha t feminin e sexualit y was a s much inbor n i n the female a s masculinity i s in the male. Currently i t i s accepted tha t th e preoedipa l dange r t o th e child , fro m birth to three years of age, is of either abandonment or engulfment b y the mother. W e no w kno w tha t i f a n infan t suffer s emotiona l o r physica l abandonment b y the mother, th e child ceases to thrive and may die. The relationship to the mother serves to protect the child's physical and emotional survival. The other preoedipal danger is engulfment, where merging continues an d a separate differentiate d sens e o f sel f fro m th e mothe r i s lost. Freud defended himself against awareness of his own repressed preoedipal issues, and therefore omitted them from his theoretical formulations . However, eve n whe n Freu d late r i n lif e di d recogniz e th e preoedipa l period, h e fel t i t wa s mor e significan t fo r girl s tha n fo r boys . Althoug h not mor e significan t i n girls , th e preoedipa l perio d i s considere d t o b e more represse d i n boys than girls . To develo p a masculine identity, boy s need to distance themselves to differentiate fro m thei r preoedipal mothers and identify wit h thei r fathers . Problems Differentiating fromMother Freud ha d difficult y differentiatin g fro m hi s mother becaus e of the trau matic separation s fro m hi s mothe r an d nann y a s a smal l child , an d i t probably continue d throughou t th e res t...

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